Challenger 2
The FV4034 Challenger 2 is a third generation British main battle tank in service with the armies of the United Kingdom, Oman, and Ukraine.
It was designed by Vickers Defence Systems as a private venture in 1986, and was an extensive redesign of the company's earlier Challenger 1 tank. The Ministry of Defence ordered a prototype in December 1988.
The Challenger 2 has four crew members consisting of a commander, gunner, loader, and driver. The main armament is a L30A1 rifled tank gun, an improved derivative of the L11 gun used on the Chieftain and Challenger 1. Fifty rounds of ammunition are carried for the main armament, alongside 4,200 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition for the tank's secondary weapons: a L94A1 EX-34 chain gun mounted coaxially, and a L37A2 machine gun. The turret and hull are protected with second generation Chobham armour, also known as Dorchester. Powered by a Perkins CV12-6A V12 diesel engine, the tank has a range of and maximum road speed of.
The Challenger 2 eventually completely replaced the Challenger 1 in British service. In June 1991, the UK ordered 140 vehicles, followed by a further 268 in 1994; these were delivered between 1994 and 2002. The tank entered operational service with the British Army in 1998 and has since been used in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Iraq. To date, at least three Challenger 2 tanks are confirmed to have been destroyed in operations; the first was by accidental friendly fire from another Challenger 2 in [|Basra in 2003], and the two others were during the Russo-Ukrainian War, where the tanks were destroyed under Ukrainian control during the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive and Ukrainian incursion into Kursk. Further Russian claims with supporting drone footage show FPV drone strikes on at least two other vehicles. The extent of damage to them is unknown as of the time of writing.
Challenger 2 tanks were also ordered by Oman in the 1990s with delivery of 38 vehicles being completed in 2001. A number of British Challenger 2 tanks were delivered to Ukraine in 2023.
Since the Challenger 2 entered service in 1998, various upgrades have sought to improve its protection, mobility and lethality. This has culminated in an upgraded design, known as Challenger 3, which is set to gradually replace Challenger 2 from 2027.
History
Challenger 1
The Challenger 2 is the third vehicle of this name, the first being the A30 Challenger, a World War II design using the Cromwell tank chassis with a 17-pounder gun. The second was the Persian Gulf War era Challenger 1, which was the British army's main battle tank from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.While the British Chieftain was heavily armed and armoured, its engine and suspension were considerably subpar compared to its contemporaries, leading to poor cross-country performance and a lack of maneuverability.
Some work on further development of the Chieftain had been ongoing since 1968 at the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment, and several experimental vehicles produced, including one with the recently developed Chobham armour. In September 1978, it was announced that these concepts would be brought together in a new design, MBT-80. Deliveries of the MBT-80 were not expected until the mid-1980s at a minimum. Advances in Soviet armor, especially the apparent upcoming introduction of the T-80, suggested that the UK's tanks would be at a significant disadvantage before the MBT-80 would arrive. After considerable debate, MBT-80 was controversially cancelled, due to high projected costs, significant development delay, and the British military industry being reliant on Iran, which cancelled all orders due to the Iranian Revolution. Instead, in 1978, the British Army ordered the Challenger 1, based on the Shir 2. The final Challenger 1 was delivered to the British Army in 1990.
Challenger 2 contest
As Challenger production ramped up the government was interested in marketing it to its traditional customers like Jordan. To improve its sales prospects, the tank was entered in the 1987 running of the Canadian Army Trophy for tank performance, which had historically been won many times by British Army or Canadian Army units in British tanks. In this run, however, the Challenger performed very poorly, with its units ending up at the bottom of the rankings. While this performance was dismissed by the Ministry of Defence, including in comments in the House of Commons, it was a serious blow to its sales prospects. It also proved only marginally more reliable than the Chieftain, which was considered unreliable and a maintenance problem in the field, and the lack of significant improvement was much to the annoyance of the British Army.Vickers began considering improvements under the Improved Challenger name in November 1986. They presented their work to the Ministry of Defence in March 1987. In February 1988, the MoD issued Staff Requirement 4026, or the Chieftain Replacement Programme, which called for a new design to replace those Chieftains still in service. This program compared the American Abrams, French Leclerc and German Leopard 2, as well as Vickers's Improved Challenger. Initial studies by the British Army invariably selected the Leopard 2, which was protected as well as Challenger but had much better mobility and used the smoothbore 120 mm gun that would give it commonality with other NATO forces. The second choice was the Abrams, in second due largely to concerns with its fuel use.
After some supportive lobbying by Baron Young, the Thatcher government chose to proceed with the Vickers entry in December 1988, giving it the official name Challenger 2.
Prototypes
Vickers received a £90 million contract for a demonstrator vehicle to be delivered by September 1990. Part of this proof-of-concept phase was the demonstration that a depleted uranium projectile and more powerful gunpowder charge could be developed for the updated "CHARM" 120 mm gun developed at Royal Ordinance, which would give it capability against the latest Soviet designs. The demonstration phase had three milestones for progress, with dates of September 1989, March 1990, and September 1990. At the last of these milestones, Vickers was to have met 11 key criteria for the tank's design.The demonstration phase was generally successful; the major design was completed by August 1989, and production of a series of nine prototypes began. These were largely complete August 1990, and the program as a whole considered successfully completed on time in September. By this point, the Gulf War had started and Challenger 1 was sent to Iraq, where it performed far better than its initial showing would suggest, including performing several very long range kills against Iraqi armor, including one at over range. This performance bolstered the MoD's confidence in British armour.
Production and delivery
In June 1991 the decision to buy Challenger 2 was made formal with a £520 million contract for 127 tanks and 13 driver training tanks. Production began in 1993 at two primary sites with over 250 subcontractors involved. It was formally accepted on 16 May 1994 with the first tanks delivered in July 1994. An order for a further 259 tanks and 9 driver trainers worth £800 million was placed in July. The Challenger 2 failed its acceptance trials in 1994, and it was forced into the Progressive Reliability Growth Trial in 1995. Three vehicles were tested for 285 simulated battlefield days.Due to downsizing of the Army after the end of the Cold War, the two runs of Challenger 2 would result in enough tanks to arm the entire Army, as opposed to the mixture of Challenger 1 and 2 that was formerly planned. This made the Challenger 1 surplus, and these were eventually shipped to Jordan for free. Vickers struggled to market the tank for export. Its one success led to Oman ordering 38 Challenger 2s; 18 in June 1993 and a further 20 in November 1997. Both batches ordered by Oman contain notable differences from the UK version: a larger cooling group and rear towing eyes, running gear and bazooka plates similar to Challenger 1, and a loader's Browning 0.5 Calibre M2 Heavy Machine Gun. Deliveries of Challenger 2 to Oman were completed in 2001.
File:Challenger2-Bergen-Hohne-Training-Area-2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A Challenger 2 Tank of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards during live fire training exercises on Bergen-Hohne Training Area
The tank was then accepted into service in 1998. An equally important milestone was the In-Service Reliability Demonstration in 1998. The CR2 In-Service Reliability Demonstration milestone was successfully achieved in January 1999. The ISRD took place from September to December 1998. Twelve fully crewed tanks were tested at the Bovington test tracks and the Lulworth Bindon ranges. The tank exceeded all staff requirements.
Later developments and possible replacement
The Challenger 2 entered service with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, with the last delivered in 2002. After the Army 2020 restructuring, only three Challenger 2 Tank Regiments will remain: the Queen's Royal Hussars, the King's Royal Hussars and the Royal Tank Regiment, each of which is the tank regiment of an Armoured Infantry Brigade. A single Army Reserve regiment, The Royal Wessex Yeomanry, will provide reservist Challenger crews to the regular regiments.The Trojan minefield breaching vehicle and the Titan bridge-laying vehicle based on the chassis of the Challenger 2 were shown in November 2006. Sixty-six are to be supplied by BAE Systems to the Royal Engineers, at a cost of £250 million.
A British military document from 2001 indicated that the British Army would not procure a replacement for the Challenger 2 because of a lack of foreseeable conventional threats in the future. However, IHS Jane's 360 reported in September 2015 that following discussions with senior Army officers and procurement officials at DSEI 2015 and the head of the British Army, General Sir Nick Carter, that the British Army was looking at either upgrading the Challenger 2 or outright replacing it. Sources confirmed that the future of the MBT was being considered at the highest levels of the Army.
This stemmed from the British Army's concern with the new Russian T-14 Armata main battle tank and the growing ineffectiveness of the ageing L30 rifled gun and the limited types of ammunition supported. It was confirmed that numerous armoured vehicle manufacturers had discussions with the MoD about a potential replacement for the Challenger 2. Shortly after, the British Army decided that purchasing a new tank would be too expensive and chose to proceed with the Challenger 2 Life Extension Project. The Challenger 2 is expected to remain in service until 2025.
Between 2010 and 2014, 43 Challenger 2 tanks were disposed of as "beyond any economic repair".
The maintenance contract was let sometime in 2021.
maintenance and overhaul of the Challenger 2 is undertaken by the Babcock Defence Support Group. Design authority for the tank is held by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land. Engineering work is to be completed by RBSL and integration work by Babcock. This complicated two-part project is [|detailed below]. The initial operating capability for the upgraded Challenger 3 tanks is expected by 2027.
In May 2021, the UK MoD published a command paper entitled Defence in a Competitive Age. In it, the MoD proposed to retire 79 tanks from the current fleet of 227, with the remaining 148 vehicles upgraded to Challenger 3 status.